In 1965, broadcaster Lindsey Nelson delivered a unique play-by-play from a gondola 208 feet above the Astrodome field.
HOUSTON — The Astrodome has hosted everything from baseball and football to concerts and rodeos, but one of its strangest moments came during a Mets-Astros game in 1965 when broadcaster Lindsey Nelson called the action from a gondola suspended high above the field.
The unusual broadcast took place April 28, 1965, less than a month after the Astrodome opened.
Nelson, already one of baseball’s best-known broadcasters, agreed to broadcast the New York Mets’ game against Houston from a gondola located 208 feet above second base inside the Dome.
The idea reportedly came after a Mets producer spotted the gondola hanging near the roof of the futuristic stadium.
Before the game even started, Nelson’s location became part of a discussion between umpires and Mets manager Casey Stengel.
“What if the ball hits my man Lindsey?” Stengel asked.
According to accounts from the game, the umpire ruled that if the ball hit Nelson, it would still be considered in play — effectively making the broadcaster part of the ground rules.
Nelson later described the experience as both difficult and unnerving.
“At first I couldn’t see anything except a lot of tiny figures,” he recalled. “You couldn’t tell a line drive from a pop fly.”
Nelson also said he was initially afraid to stand while suspended high above the field.
Communication created another challenge. Nelson used walkie-talkies to communicate with fellow broadcasters Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy, but the devices reportedly shared a frequency with a Houston taxi dispatch company.
At times, Nelson heard play-by-play descriptions. Other times, he heard cab pickups.
The game itself turned into a slugfest. The Astros defeated the Mets 12-9, with Bob Aspromonte delivering the game-winning hit on a bases-loaded single.
Nelson later went on to a Hall of Fame broadcasting career and received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Still, his broadcast inside the Astrodome remains one of the strangest moments in baseball broadcasting history — and perhaps the only time a broadcaster technically became part of the rules of the game
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